Eagle Mountain Update

AUDREY has been in CA for the last week enjoying her sister and time away from frustrations here (and not just her siblings and parents, so there!). Britt and Jason have been very kind and gracious hosts and she's had a lot of fun.

JAMES, KATIE, and ISAAC: nothing new, really: Dave, James, and I met with his Scout leaders the other night and found out for sure that he only needs about 6 more Merit Badges to be ready for his Eagle Project, which we're planning to do next summer, so no sweat! (Pun intended, all you Eagle Nest inhabitants. =) Katie is turning 12 (good grief!) in April, and so I'm not going to cut her hair 'til after her birthday so she can immediately pass off a goal for "Good Works" (if she cuts it and donates it, I figure that will be a good "category"). Isaac is doing well at school--especially since his teacher finally emailed me and told me that he was needing to be a little more focused/on task (and not talk/be goofy with two particular friends). We've implemented a 1-5 measurement, with 5 being the best: his teacher emails me daily with the number of his behavior, and if it gets to a 3 he knows he'll have a looong talk with us at home.

DAVE has been asked whether he wants to be on an "Administrative" or "Teaching" track (so to speak) next year at his school; he hasn't decided yet which one he'll go for--the politics will always be there with any kind of Admin.

I had an issue at school this week that made me think (again) that small charter schools are just NOT where I want to be; I also decided that I will no longer stay later than 4p on site. (The family is happy about that, but I'm wondering when I'll be able to focus and get work done. On the other hand, maybe--as Dad once asked me--80-90% is good enough when most everyone else does 60-70%? =P ) I have FIVE BYU positions that I'm applying for this week (by March 3rd), so who knows? Sometimes I wonder if I'll be stuck teaching for longer than 3 years (my 3rd year ends in June: HALLELUAH!!!)...and sometimes I wouldn't mind, but I really, really, really wish that, if that's the case, I could do it in a public school. Ah, well...if wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets, right? After a particularly rough Friday, I decided that I was SERIOUS about getting in shape, and, since I'm getting home at 4:30 or so, from now on, I'll spend 30 minutes before school on the elliptical machine, and 30 minutes after doing Pilates or yoga or FIRM workouts...I'm hoping that I'll feel more "in control" of my life if something is improving (mainly, my muscle tone =).
That's pretty much it for us. TAKE CARE, and know you are in our prayers daily/nightly (whichever I remember, and occasionally both =),

LOVE AND HUGS,

Lib

Greetings from CA

Hello Family!

I am happy to report that February has been MUCH better than January, and that the car is fixed. =)

My birthday was awesome! Grandma and Grandpa were in San Diego that weekend and decided to come have breakfast with me at I-Hop. Yum! It was so good to see them, especially since I'd been planning on coming to Utah in January and didn't get to and, consequently, was really missing everyone. Later in the day Jason took me to... are you ready?drum-role please... Star Trek: The Exhibition! That was tremendous amounts of fun, especially since my husband (who is NOT a Trekky by the way) actually found some of it interesting (to which I said, laughing, "that's what I've been telling you!"). Then we wandered around the Mission Inn, went to dinner, saw a movie, and ate Coldstone ice-cream. It was, as I said, awesome!!! I love my husband. <3

The week after my birthday Audrey came to stay with us. In fact, she's here now. We have to take her back to the airport tomorrow. =( It's been so fun having her here! We visited our nearby California family, introduced her to my in-laws (which was entertaining to say the least), toured the Mission Inn (Jason makes one hilarious tour-guide), went to the gym, played tennis outside where it was NOT snowing (I mention this because Audrey was quite happy and a little bit smug about it), went to John's Incredible Pizza for an all-you-can-eat buffet and arcade games, visited the San Diego Zoo, went to Seaport Village for shopping and fudge, ate at Jack and the Box (apparently there aren't any in Utah), and played lots of games. Audrey attempted to teach me to dance and "role" (I had a great teacher, but...), and Jason successfully taught Audrey how to drive a stick-shift.

Just as an update, I did find a way to get my CTR 7 class to be reverent. We came up with some class rules and agreed on some consequences and rewards. So far it has worked surprisingly well! I Love Primary.

We love you all and are looking forward to the Hancock Family Reunion this summer.

Brittany & Jason